In a social media post by the Stop Fracking Around Twitter account, a video shows two activists dousing a table with an unknown liquid said to be maple syrup per tweet. The two activists then apparently pinned themselves to the wall below the painting. Climate activists pour maple syrup on Emily Carr’s “Stumps and Sky” at the Vancouver Art Gallery to demand an end to the GasLink Coastal Pipeline running under the sacred Wedzin Kwa River on the unacceptable @Gidimten Wet’suwet’en lands #KillTheDrill #WetsuwetenStrong pic.twitter.com/KiOr0zKkZk — Stop Fracking Around (@StopFrackingA) November 12, 2022 Story continues below ad
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In the video posted, one of the activists claims that the incident is a protest against the Coastal Gas Link Pipeline and demands that the construction of the pipeline be stopped. “We stop hanging around. We are here to raise our voices and we are not going to stay quiet,” said one of the activists. “We demand that the government stop the construction of the Coastal Gas Pipeline, the government cancel the fossil fuel infrastructure and the government cancel the Trans Mountain pipeline.”
Read more: Climate protesters accused of dousing Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’ with tomato soup
The Vancouver Art Gallery has confirmed that two people managed to vandalize Emily Carr’s painting Stumps and Sky. “The Vancouver Art Gallery condemns acts of vandalism to works of cultural significance in our care or at any museum,” said Anthony Kiendl, CEO and director of the Vancouver Art Gallery. “A central part of our mission is to make safer spaces for communication and ideas. As a non-profit charitable foundation, we are an institution of memory and care for future generations. We support the free expression of ideas, but not at the expense of suppressing the ideas and artistic expressions of others, or otherwise preventing people from accessing those ideas.” Story continues below ad Gallery staff believe there will be no permanent damage to the artwork.
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Climate protests targeting famous paintings have been in the news lately, with two women charged with criminal damage after vandalizing a painting in London last month. In yet another food-related protest, climate activists threw mashed potatoes at a $110.7 million Claude Monet painting in a German museum in late October. These protests have been met with severe backlash online, with even members of the climate-conscious community taking issue with the art being targeted. 1:05 Climate protesters throw mashed potatoes at Monet’s painting in Germany A spokesman for Stop Fracking Around said they understand the frustrations and feel this is one of the only means to be heard. Story continues below ad “This is a move of desperation,” said Don Marshall, spokesman for Stop Fracking Around. “That’s the only way (activists) can really make an impact. Those people who say, “please protest in another way”, please. “If they think you can stand on the side of the road, hold a banner and that will have an impact on the government…try it. We have and it didn’t work.” Marshall said the two activists have been dislodged from the wall, but details are limited at this time.
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Vancouver police also confirmed that two women entered the art gallery and put maple syrup on a painting. The two have not been arrested, however, police said officers believe they know who they are and are investigating. 2:14PNE spokesman provides information on riot investigation Previous Video Next Video © 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
